乡土 (xiāng tǔ) — native land, homeland, one's home village or region

Definition

Literary/cultural term for one's native soil — local village, region, and the rural way of life tied to it. Often used to evoke nostalgia, tradition, or regional identity (乡土文化, 乡土气息).

noun
native landhomelandone's home village or region

Examples

  • 乡土。
    Tā hěn huái niàn zì jǐ de xiāng tǔ.
    He misses his native land very much.
  • 乡土。
    Zhè bù xiǎo shuō chōng mǎn le xiāng tǔ qì xī.
    This novel is full of local flavor.
  • 乡土。
    xiāng tǔ Wén huà shì zhōng huá mín zú de gēn.
    Local culture is the root of the Chinese nation.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

乡xiāngnative village
土tǔsoil

乡 'native village' and 土 'soil' stand side by side to mean one's native land.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 鄉; 乡 is its simplified writing.

  • 𠨍𠨍𠨍two people facing each other
  • 皀皀jía round-mouthed food vessel

The traditional form 鄉 combines two people facing each other with a round-mouthed food vessel, depicting a feast. The village meaning is connected to this feasting event.

Open 乡 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 土 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.